What happens if late candidate wins Brazoria County election

All right. So when it comes to this election cycle, you know, a lot of folks are paying attention to the governor's race, also paying attention to the senatorial race between James Tallarico and Ken Paxton, right? Those are the headlines. But when you look at some local races, those are the ones that are going to have direct impact to you. And when we look at Brazoria County, right, there's been a text message going around and it's got some voters a bit confused. You might ask why. That's because the one of the people on the ballot is dead. This is for the race for the justice of the peace in precinct two. So this is the text message on your screen that's going around. It claims the vote won't count for the Republican candidate, who's Judge Richard Davis, but he passed last month. But election officials say that is simply not true. So McKenna Earnhardt joining us now to really walk us through all of this here, because McKenna, it's a lot to get to, so clear things up for us. Yeah, Anthony, a lot of voters out here in Brazoria County have received that text message. Some of them upset and frustrated, a lot of them are confused, and almost all of them say they just want some answers. So let's break down exactly what Texas law says, plain and simple here. So Judge Richard Davis, he passed away on September 14th. Because his passing happened after the state's August 21st deadline to swap candidates on the ballot, his name remains exactly where it is. And yes, votes for him still count. So despite what this text message going around says if Judge Davis wins the election, his seat doesn't just go to his opponent. Instead, the Brazoria County Commissioner's Court would step in to appoint a temporary replacement to serve for two years. Then in 2028, voters would get to choose who fills out the rest of that term. Republican leaders say the text message going around, which claimed votes for Davis won't matter, is flat out false. His Democratic opponent, Shaniqua Harrison, told us in a statement that she had nothing to do with that text message and she extended her heartfelt condolences to Judge Davis's family. Now earlier today, I caught up with Shane Green, that is the chairman of the Republican Party of Brazoria County, about how they're responding to that text message and confusion going around amongst voters. That message came from a Democrat group in Austin and it was directed to the folks that live in JP2 district. And so all those folks got that message and saw it and there was a huge reaction about that. They were, people were upset about will my vote count and who should I vote for because I'm Republican, I want to vote Republican. But I want to assure them that their vote will count. It will be taken care of if he wins this election and we will have someone that replaces him and will be a good person if he wins this position in November. Now I called the Brazoria County Democratic Party for an interview. They told me they have no comment and that they see this as an issue for the Republican Party to handle. So bottom line for voters though, is that both candidates on your ballot are active under Texas law, either one that you vote for your vote is going to count. Anthony back to you. All right, good reporting there McKenna. Hopefully that clears things up for our voters down there in Brazoria County. So go ahead, hit the polls and enjoy your vote.